Hospital staffers reportedly take sick day rather than treat New Yorkās first Ebola patient
A spokeswoman from Bellevue denied the report of a sickout and said nurses are treating the Doctors Without Borders volunteer are working in teams of two, āwith one serving as a buddy watching the other.āĀ (Reuters)
New York City’s first Ebola patient is prompting frightened staffers tasked with his treatment at the city-run hospital in Manhattan to call in sick, according to a published report.
The New York Post reported Saturday that an “extraordinary number” of Bellevue Hospital staffers took a sick day Friday rather than treat Dr. Craig Spencer. And those who reported for work were petrified at having to enter his isolation ward, the paper added, citing sources.
“The nurses on the floor are miserable with a ‘why me?’ attitude, scared to death and overworked because all their co-workers called out sick,” one source told the Post. “One nurse even went as far as to pretend she was having a stroke to get out of working there, but once they cleared her in the ER they sent her back,” the source also told the paper.
But a spokeswoman for the public hospital denied there was any sickout. Ana Marengo told the Post the nurses treating the Doctors Without Borders volunteer are working in teams of two, “with one serving as a buddy watching the other.”
The Post said Spencer, who is in stable condition, has been playing an active role in his recovery, putting his medical skills to use, lecturing the staff about proper treatment.
“As a doctor, he knows a lot about medicine, so he would call the nurse’s station all day and going back and forth the doctors on what to do,” the source told the Post.
Spencer Ā is confined to a special room that is pressurized. He has been passing the hours in isolation watching TV and eating hospital food. No visitors are allowed but once his room is equipped with a video camera heāll be able to Skype with pals.
The report of a sick-out came as both New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday they are ordering a mandatory, 21-day quarantine for all doctors and travelers who have had contact with Ebola victims in the ravaged countries of West Africa.
